


Acquaintances and Monsters

by PilotInTheStars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, My obsession with backstory is coming through, Sabine and Tristan are mentioned like once, Sorry guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 03:30:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PilotInTheStars/pseuds/PilotInTheStars
Summary: The Empire told Countess Ursa Wren that Bo-Katan Kryze was dead. They were wrong.





	Acquaintances and Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is my first fanfic posted to AO3, and I hope you enjoy. This is frankly only slightly edited, so I might edit it more over time. 
> 
> I think Bo-Katan as a character is interesting, and when I learned Ursa Wren was a member of Death Watch, I was intrigued and I wondered if Ursa and Bo had been friends when they were younger. And now this has happened. I would love to write more about Ursa and Bo-Katan as friends, so if people do enjoy this, I might write some more about them. :D
> 
> I also have no idea what to name this fanfic. I'm so sorry.

Ursa had been sitting alone when one of the warriors walked into the room to tell her the news.

“Countess,” they said, “someone is here.”

Who? She stood up and nodded, and the warrior gestured for her to walk with them to the throne room.

They walked through the hallways and Ursa checked to make sure all her weapons were in place. A sense of panic waved through her entire body, making her legs not want to move forward. Who would be calling on her home on Krownest in the dead of the night? Perhaps it was nothing for her to be worried about, but a guilty conscience never gave one a moment of calm.

Ursa entered the throne room and walked up the stairs to the throne. When she was in place, she waved a hand signaling for them to bring the guest into the throne room. Two warriors stood on either side of the guest as they entered the room. The visitor was cloaked. Ursa’s heart pounded in her chest, but she tried her hardest to let no weakness show on her face.

The warriors took a step back, and the visitor let the hood drop from their head.

“Bo?”

Bo-Katan Kryze- no, a ghost of Bo-Katan Kryze stood there- face pale and gauntly, tall but without a presence of leadership. Her hair, the color of a red bonfire was starting to turn gray near the roots. Her cloak was battered and damaged, like her armor, which was faded and worn. Her eyes were hard- they no longer carried warmth about them. This seemed like a dream.

Gar Saxon had told her months ago that Bo-Katan was dead and had been murdered when the Empire took over. If Ursa wanted to save her family’s skin, she couldn’t question his word. She just assumed, and chose to forget about the lost soul that was Bo-Katan Kryze. She was Ursa’s friend, the one who had always sat beside her at Death Watch bonfires, and joked with her when they were on watch and everything was slow. Assuming she was dead had hurt, but Ursa had let herself bury those feelings so far down she couldn’t remember.

“Long time, no see, Ursa,” the ghost said.

She looked at her warriors. “Leave,” she told them. They hesitated. “I ask that you leave. Now.” They looked around and obeyed, leaving Ursa and Bo-Katan alone.

Ursa looked at her again. She wanted to walk down, hold Bo’s face in her hands, make sure that this was her friend, not some nightmare or spirit coming to haunt her. “Gar Saxon said you were dead almost two years ago. He said you were killed. That your body was thrown into a grave and covered with dirt.”

Bo shook her head. “He tells himself that to sleep at night. I escaped the Empire’s attack at Sundari. I live.” She tried to step forward but stumbled; her leg was obviously injured.

Ursa frowned upon Bo-Katan. “You’re a mess,” she said, trying to show sympathy for her.

“And your point is?”

Ursa paused. “Where have you been all these years?”

Bo coughed. “Wandering from planet to planet; trying to survive. Sometimes I stayed for a while. If people got suspicious, I left.”

“Why are you here?”

A heavy silence filled the room, as if every inch of space was waiting to learn why.

“I have nowhere else to go.”

“Really? Out of thousands of systems?”

She rolled her eyes. “This was the next place, and I assumed that if there was anywhere I could possibly go to, it was here. I refuse to abandon Mandalore.” She paused. But I know how it is, Ursa,” Bo informed her. “I see the Empire has treated you well.”

“It’s a matter of benefits, Bo-Katan. I do what I need to do for my family.”

Bo snorted, and stumbled again. “Funny, seeing how your husband is imprisoned.”

“How did you know that?”

“Word gets around Mandalore, Ursa,” Bo replied. “And your son, Tristan, is training with the Empire?”

Ursa hesitated. “Yes.” Her fingers tightened around the helmet sitting on her lap.

“And your daughter?”

“I don’t have a daughter,” Ursa informed her.

Bo-Katan bent over in laughter. “You don’t have a daughter? I was one of the first people to visit you when she was born. I held her in my arms.” She appeared to be watching Ursa’s nervousness. “I know what she did.”

“She’s a traitor to Clan Wren and her people,” Ursa retorted.

Bo paused for a moment, meeting Ursa’s eyes. “A traitor? Then Sabine and I must have a lot in common.”

“How?”

“You know how.” Bo adjusted her weight. Ursa remembered what Bo had told her around that campfire once. What she had told her about Kalevala, House Kryze, and the current Duchess of Mandalore. “The Empire is a monster, Ursa. But I suppose, we were monsters once too.”

Everything was quiet, and there seemed to be no brightness, as they thought of the Death Watch of old. With the two dark souls standing there, there was no light.  
“What do you want, Kryze?”

Bo cleared her throat and coughed. “I want one night in this palace. Let me sleep in an extra room, with a little food. By the time you wake up in the morning, I will be gone.”

Ursa weighed the options in her head, considering what was to be done.

“You can stay here three days, and I will give you the basic things you need,” Ursa stated. “But if I am informed that the Empire knows you’re here, you’ll be shot before they can come and I can be arrested myself.”

Bo-Katan smirked, the way that Ursa had watched her do so many years ago. “That’s what friends are for.”


End file.
